


At The Copa

by Anielka



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bartender Keith, Copacabana AU, F/M, I think social service is called community service in english but idec anymore, M/M, Nursing Home AU, Old Lance, Show Girl Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 03:21:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12645123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anielka/pseuds/Anielka
Summary: "Aren’t you bothered by the fact that Ricky Martin is gay?”“Whoa, Pidge!”“I’m bothered by the fact that he wasn’t alive in 1948, when I was young and beautiful, and had a shot at seducing him.”Or,“Oh, I’m sorry were my words too much to handle?”“You’re too much to handle.” Lance muttered into the glass.“What was that?”“I said, I hope you fall from a saddle!”OR,Hunk and Pidge are doing their community service at Altea's Nursing Home when they meet Lance, who tells them about his show girl era.





	1. Across The Crowded Floor

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! 
> 
> This is just a little something that has been in my mind for a while, imagine show girl Lance in one of those ridiculous dresses filled with yellow feathers. Just do it.
> 
> Also, if you have heard the song Copacabana, you know where this is going.

 

_“Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl,_

_With yellow feathers in her hair, and a dress cut down to there.”_

****

“Welcome to Altea’s Nursing Home, my name’s Shiro, how can I help you?” Asked the man at the reception, and Pidge decided immediately she liked him. Beside her, Hunk eyed his scar and prosthetic in a mix of concern and awe.

“Hi, we’re here to do our social service.” She said. “I’m Pidge and this is Hunk.”

“Right! Let me just-“ Shiro ruffled some papers on his desk until he picked one. “We have a Hunk on the list, but I don’t see any Pidge…”

“The list probably says Katie Holt,” she added. “but-“

“We’ll call you Pidge, got it.” He smiled and gave them both thumbs up. “In that case, come in, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

He got out of his desk and led them to a living room filled with soft-looking sofas and coffee tables where small groups of elder people sat together. The room had a view to a small garden through some wide windows that were open, letting a breeze in to refresh the heated summer day.

Pidge heard heels clicking from behind her.

“Shiro, do you have the new calendars? I can’t find mine anywhere.” The three of them turned around a saw a beautiful woman walking towards them. She had flowing locks of white hair, and her dark skin stood out to the white uniform she wore. “Oh, hello!” she noticed the kids. “You must be here for the Social Service. Lion’s High, right?” They nodded. “A pleasure, my name’s Allura.”

“Hunk.” He offered his hand and she shook it with a kind smile.

“I’m Pidge.” She waved.

“Lovely name.” Said Allura. “Shiro’s showing you around?”

“Yep.”

“That’s great. I’ll let you continue, then.” She walked away, cheerfully waving at some old ladies playing some board game. Pidge and Hunk didn’t miss the way Shiro saw her leave, and they shared a look. It was adorable.

“Let’s keep moving.” He instructed, and they spent the next hour introducing themselves to everyone they came across. Pidge was amazed at Shiro: he smiled a lot, and knew everyone’s names, which was not a thing to be taken lightly since the nursing home had the weirdest names she had ever heard. There was a man named Sendak, someone with the last name ‘Olkari’, and the sourest couple in the world: Zarkon and Honerva.

“And that’s Lance.” Shiro finally finished his tour pointing at the sunniest corner in the room, where a thin, long man was curled up in a velvety sofa, watching a T.V. that was right on top of him, clutching the remote control to his heart.

“What’s he doing?” Asked Pidge.

“Is that Ricky Martin on T.V.?” Hunk sounded freaked out.

“Yep. You try stopping him from watching Ricky Martin’s Top Hits.” Shiro shook his head, but chuckled. “C’mon, let’s go say hello, he always loves good company.” They walked together and, when they reached him, Pidge could see the man in more detail: his short hair wasn’t white, but salt-and-pepper-ish, and there weren’t many wrinkles in his face, except for laugh lines. Pidge didn’t think he looked very old.

“Shiro, I want you to look at Ricky and tell me he’s not the finest piece of ass you’ve ever seen since you saw yourself in the mirror.” Said Lance, his voice barely raspy. When he turned around his head Pidge saw how his eyes still twinkled. “Oh! Social Service! Nice to meet you!” He turned the T.V. off. “The name’s Lance, and you?”

“I’m Hunk.” He smiled and waved shyly.

“Call me Pidge. Aren’t you bothered by the fact that Ricky Martin is gay?”

“Whoa, Pidge!” Hunk gaped at her forwardness.

“I’m bothered by the fact that he wasn’t alive in 1948, when I was young and beautiful, and had a shot at seducing him.” He answered without missing a beat, tilting his head. They stared at him in a shocked silence.

“Well, that’s Lance for you.” Said Shiro. “I need to finish some deskwork, is it okay if I leave you all together?”

“Fine by me!” Smiled Lance. “I’ll keep an eye on them.”

“You’re the one that needs supervision,” groaned Shiro as he started to walk away, before adding: “You’re the biggest safety hazard in here since Blaytz started flirting with all the nurses…” He went on under his breath, but he was too far for them to hear.

“Shiro’s the best.” Sighed Lance. “Allura is so lucky.”

“Are they together?” Asked Hunk, taking a seat on the floor next to the couch, and Pidge quickly followed.

“Not yet, but you’ll see them dance around the subject, like, _damn_.” He chuckled lightly. “Kinda reminds me of my younger days.”

“Shiro?”

“No, Allura.”

“Really?”

“Yeah!” He grinned and took a dramatic stance, leaning against the sofa’s arm and almost dropping himself on it, while raising his hand over his forehead. His posture was so precarious the kids feared for a moment he would fall, but he appeared to be flexible enough.  “Looking drop-dead gorgeous, and leaving behind a path of broken hearted men and women, enchanted by my presence…”

“Really?!”

“You know, I’d like it very much if you two stopped questioning everything I say.” He huffed and they laughed.

“But seriously,” Pidge got closer to the sofa, “what did you even do to leave all those people like that?”

“I’m so glad you asked! I-“ he straightened his posture and placed his fingertips over his heart, “used to be a dancer.”

“A dancer!”

“What kind of dancer?” Hunk asked carefully, and mischief gleamed in Lance’s blue eyes.

“A showgirl.”

 

 

. . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

_Lance smiled widely as he fixed his shortest dress, a yellow feathery menace, at his hips._

_We would absolutely die if his presentation was less than perfect. He had people to impress, dammit! (Not that that had anything to do with a certain someone watching across the bar, no sir, not at all!)_

_He put a couple more feathers in his headband, and gave the mirror a charming smile, trying a few postures before-_

_“McClain! You go in five!” Kolivan called him from the other side of the door._

_“Coming!” He answered. This was his life, and it was The life._

_. . . . . . . . . ._

_“Won’t you buy a pretty thing a drink, cowboy?” Lance purred as he sat at the bar, the shifts long over._

_“I would if there was any pretty thing around here.” Lance pouted, but decided not to let that be the end of the conversation._

_“Did you like today’s show, Keith?” He tried again._

_“Can’t say I saw it.”_

_“Why not?” You literally have the best view to the stage in the whole God dammed bar!_

_“I was busy.”_

_“Doing what?” Lance frowned._

_“Actually working.” Keith smirked as he placed a glass filled with water in front of him._

_“You’re so mean to me.” Lance complained as he started sipping. The water was at a room temperature; a consideration to his still warm body, and a total rebuttal to Lance’s last statement: Keith was a darling, and boy, if that didn’t turn Lance’s legs to jelly…_

_“Oh, I’m sorry, were my words too much to handle?”_

_“You’re too much to handle.” Lance muttered into the glass._

_“What was that?”_

_“I said, I hope you fall from a saddle!”_

_Keith grinned as he took a large sip from his probably alcoholic drink._

_“You got a sinning dress on.” He commented after a few moments._

_“A what?”_

_“A sinning dress. The kind of dress you wear when you want to double your tips, and a few numbers. In fact,” he grabbed a bunch of papers and showed them to him. “I was instructed to give all these to you.”_

_“Ugh, burned them.” Lance rolled his eyes. “I don’t want that kind of men in my life.”_

_“Oh? And what kind of men you do want?” Keith cocked his head and Lance restrained himself from screaming. Instead he started counting with his fingers._

_“One that can hold his drink, for starters.” Once, Lance had seen Keith drink 18 shots of vodka in one sit, and still be able to win at darts. It had also been the time when Keith had tried to wink at him, and had ended up blinking really hard, but Lance blamed that on Keith’s face, not the alcohol. “One that can out sass me.” Keith gave no reaction. Lance wanted to yell at him, again. ‘Come here and ravish me on the counter, guanajo descarado!’ “One that puts his stupid mullet in a ponytail…”_

_“It’s not a-“ Keith finally seemed to catch up. “Wha- You-“_

_“Well, thank you for the drink.” Lance stood up, a smirk creeping into his face._

_“Lance! Wait!” Lance started walking away as Keith struggled to get from behind the counter._

_“See you tomorrow, Keith!”_

 

. . . . . . .

 

 

Pidge burst out laughing.

“You did not!”

“Yes, I did.” Said Lance, looking way to smug.

“What happened after that?” Asked Hunk.

“Well,” Lance put his index on his chin like he was thinking, “the next night, before my show, he brought me a huge bouquet of roses, red, if I remember correctly, and we confessed our mutual feelings of passionate, undying love and lust for each other, and had a hot make out session in my dressing room before security kicked him out.”

“Old people are wild.” Said Pidge, with admiration in her eyes.

“What are you telling them, Lance?” Shiro had walked over to them, and was smiling like a parent who just caught their child in the middle of an exaggerated story.

“Just how I got together with my Keith.”

Shiro nodded in understanding.

“That explains the laughter. You kids haven’t heard half of it.”

“There’s more?!” Both Pidge and Hunk almost jumped off the floor.

“Hell yeah, there’s more!” Lance laughed.

“Yep, but it’ll have to wait ‘till next time; your time is up.”

“Oh, damn.” Hunk helped Pidge stand up.

“We’ll come the day after tomorrow; will you tell us more then?” She asked.

“Sure thing, kiddo.” Lance grinned.


	2. But just who shot who?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, they’re missing the best of life.” Lance stated. “Especially tonight. There’s never been a night like this one.”  
> “There’s never been someone like you before, either, and you don’t see the sky making such a fuss.” He joked, his voice muffled.  
> “Of course not! I got you for that!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took forever to finish :)
> 
> Sorry to everyone who hasn't heard Copacabana by Barry Manilow :)
> 
> You're in for a big surprise :)

 

_“His name was Rico, he wore a diamond,_

_he was escorted to his chair, he saw Lola dancing there.”_

“-and then I said, ‘Nope, don’t remember, didn’t happen!’ Oh, you should have seen his face!” Lance laughed along with the kids.

“Oh, God, Shiro was right, you _are_ a menace!” Pidge tried to say through her laughter, failing miserably.

“Uh, Lance?” Called Hunk, after they all had calmed down.

“Yeah?”

“You keep speaking about Keith in past tense,” Hunk spoke slowly and carefully, “when did you guys broke up?”

Lance’s smile faltered.

“We, um, we never did, actually.” He scratched his neck while looking down. “We never ‘broke up’, it was different.”

“What happened? Where is he?” Pidge was quick to ask. The more time he took answering, she became less excited.  “Is he-“

“Yeah…” Lance sighed. “He’s dead.”

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

_“Lance!” Keith groaned, as he tried to adjust Lance’s hairband and failed miserably, “Stay still for a second, will ya?”_

_“No can do, samurai! Tonight’s not a night for passive existence!” He squirmed out of Keith’s hold and twirled around the room, humming happily._

_“For you, it never is.” Keith rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. Lance smiled back at him, and shrugged as an answer. The tan boy moved gracefully towards the only window in the room, a small rectangle on the farthest corner; it was a sad excuse for a ventilation system, but Lance was staring through it like it held all the secrets of the universe._

_“Keith, come look at the moon…” he whispered reverently, his eyes locked on the sky outside. Keith walked over to his boyfriend, and hugged him from behind, and looked up to see the moon that had Lance in such a frenzy._

_“It’s pretty.”_

_“It’s divine.” Lance scoffed. “God, look at the sky, it’s so bright; how can anyone sleep?”_

_“Most people aren’t up at this hour, that’s how.” Keith huffed softly as he hid his face between Lance’s shoulder blades._

_“Well, they’re missing the best of life.” Lance stated. “Especially tonight. There’s never been a night like this one.”_

_“There’s never been someone like you before, either, and you don’t see the sky making such a fuss.” He joked, his voice muffled._

_“Of course not! I got you for that!”_

_Keith laughed. He raised his head from where it was hidden and kissed Lance’s nape. Lance looked back at him, a smile tugging at his lips._

_“Did you have to stand on your toes to do that?” He asked._

_“No.” He did, but Lance didn’t need to know that._

_“Liar.” Lance turned his body around, still in Keith’s embrace, and smiled at him. “I won’t let you lie to me anymore, cowboy.”_

_“Oh? And why is that?”_

_“New life, new rules.” Lance said smugly._

_“We agreed we’d move together to a new state, no that we’d change personalities.” Keith argued. “You pretend I don’t stand in my toes to kiss you, and I pretend I don’t hear you sing off key in the shower.”_

_“I don’t sing off key in the shower!”_

_“McClain, in five!” Shouted a voice from outside the room. Keith teared himself off Lance grumbling, and walked towards the door._

_“That’s something I won’t miss.”_

_“Tonight’s the last night, try not to kill anyone, yes?” Lance cocked his head with a coy smile, and Keith chuckled._

_He reached for the door knob._

_“I should be telling you that, but,” he looked over his shoulder and smirked, “I want you to break their hearts.”_

_Lance smiled as the door shut._

 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

_Lance stood proudly at the center of the stage, the white light over him drawing everyone’s attention. He looked carefully at each of the presents’ faces. They were waiting for him; he had them under his control._

_His eyes wandered across the floor to the other side of the room until he found what he was looking for. Keith was looking at him. Lance smiled, and raised his arms, the chains draped over them tinkling softly. He took a deep breath and sang._

_“Moon river, wider than a mile-“_

_He liked this night. It was his final night. It was one final good-bye to a job he had once loved. A final good-bye to shiny dresses, and bright lights, and standing ovations. He would forget the songs, and the dance numbers and their step sequences, and everything he had leant there. And he’d do it happily. His life would no longer revolve around fame and applause, but Keith._

_Keith, with his stupid hair, and ridiculous accent, and bright eyes, and contagious smile._

_Keith was worth more than any of the things Lance had thought he loved._

_“Wherever you’re going, I’m going your way-“ He grinned as he sang, and the smile was audible. He would actually be following Keith from that night on._

_It would be amazing, their life together. Lance was certain of it._

_“Moon river, and me.”_

_He had finished. Once he and Keith stepped out of that club together, they would never go back. The applause was overbearing, but the only thing Lance wanted was to run far, far away from there and live his happily ever after._

_He bowed gratuitously, smiling always, and exited the stage. He had not yet reached his dressing room when one of the waiters, Ulaz, caught up with him._

_“Mister McClain! A man wants to see you.”_

_“Keith?” He tilted his head, a smile tugging his lips._

_“No, sir. The gentleman sitting at table 20.”_

_“Oh.” Lance’s smile dropped. “I don’t want to talk to anyone.” He pouted. Ulaz gave him a pleading look. “Fine, fine. I’ll go.”_

_He walked up to table 20, still in his tinkling dress. He faked his best smile and greeted the man sitting there._

_“Good evening, sir. You asked to see me?”_

_The man looked up at Lance’s face, and a shiver went through his spine. The stranger’s eyes roamed all over his body and Lance could barely hide his disgust when the man whistled softly._

_“I did.” He purred._

_“Well then, mister-“_

_“Call me Lotor.” He interrupted him. Asshole._

_“Mister Lotor.” Lance amended. “How may I help you?”_

_“Oh, in many ways, doll,” Lance’s jaw tightened as Lotor reached out to him and grabbed his hand. “But I think I want you to dine with me, first, and we’ll see where that leads us.” Lance’s stomach did a weird thing where it tried to strangle him from the inside at the same time his heart had a full stop for a couple of seconds._

_“I’m truly sorry, mister-“_

_“Lotor.”_

_“Mister,” repeated Lance more firmly, jerking his hand away from the creep. “It is not possible. I am not allowed to give personal attention to the clients, and I don’t want to. Excuse me.” He started to turn around, when a hand grabbed his arm as Lotor stood up and captured him in the spot. Lance could feel a cold ring against his skin, probably a diamond._

_“I said I wanted you to eat with me.”_

_“And I said no!” Lance pulled at his arm without much progress. Now some people were turning around to stare at them._

_“You will stay.” Lotor snarled at him._

_“I will not.” Lance snapped back._

_“No he won’t.” Keith’s voice was a balm for Lance’s every problem. He turned and met his lover’s eyes sighing in relief._

_“And who are you to say?” Lotor’s eyes traveled from Lance to Keith._

_“The boyfriend.” Keith pulled Lance away and placed him behind him. Lance thought it would have been funny if his boyfriend didn’t have murderous eyes._

_“I see.” Lotor lowered his voice. “You have to go first.”_

_And then he punched Keith in the face and all hell broke loose._

_Not only were Keith and Lotor fighting, but also Lotor’s companions, some group of terrifying women, handled their own against the waiters of the bar._

_From in between flying punches and smashed chairs Keith managed to speak to Lance._

_“Go get Coran.” Brilliant idea, Lance thought. Get the manager and end this situation immediately. He nodded and rushed away._

_He had little time, he knew. A man like Lotor would probably have more than one trick up his sleeve, he didn’t even want to know what kind of-_

**_BANG!_ **

_No._

_Dear God, no._

_Not a gunshot._

_Not when Lance knew Keith didn’t even own a gun._

_The bar was in absolute silence and Lance was frozen in his spot._

_Not Keith. Anyone but Keith._

_Lance ran back to him._

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

“I ran back to him, and I held his hand before he died.” Lance’s voice was barely above a whisper, but it did not waver. “After that the police arrived, and they took him. I made sure Keith was buried the way he would have wanted, and then I moved to another city and made a life for myself.”

“I’m sorry.” Pidge muttered.

“It’s fine now.” Lance smiled kindly at her. “I’m sort of over it.”

“How can you be?!” Pidge raised her voice.

“It was a really, really long time ago. And the bastard’s rotting in jail for like a million charges, so…” He made an elegant gesture. “It makes it bearable.”

 “Do you miss him?” Hunk asked, softly.

Lance took a moment to answer.

“Sometimes.” He said so with a look that clearly said ‘everyday’.

They all took a moment in quiet, thinking and understanding.

After the teenagers left, it was Shiro who sat down with Lance.

“Are you okay?”

“Peachy.” Lance answered, his eyes unfocussed.

“Alright.”

“Shiro,” Lance called after a few seconds.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t fall in love.”

Shiro gulped, his eyes drifting away to Allura.

“I think it’s a little too late.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINALLY SHE FINISHES THIS SHIT
> 
> What do you think of the end?? I think it's super sloppy, but I wanted this done.  
> Kudos and comments are appretiated!  
> Kudos for everyone who gets the The Great Comet of 1812 reference
> 
> The songs I used while writting this were these:  
> Copacaba ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UHn7P3ET0U  
> Fly Me To The Moon ----> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IixaVTA-x8g  
> No One Else ---> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKjO54lw5nw

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Kudos and comments are the best part of writting so don't be shy!  
> Also, if you would like Keith's POV, tell me!


End file.
